


Chronology

by SilverFliesInBlueSugar



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Nathalie loves cats and this should be canon, Self-Esteem Issues, Smol Nathalie, Some GabeNath at the end, Vaguely inspired by YukiFrill's art? Kinda?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 12:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21136685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverFliesInBlueSugar/pseuds/SilverFliesInBlueSugar
Summary: Nathalie Sancoeur wakes up on the floor in a place she doesn't recognise with people she's never met.Except apparently they know her.What's all this about an akuma?





	Chronology

"Nathalie. Nathalie! Wake up!"

"Nmmgh" she mumbled in reply, trying to block out the noise. It was rather annoying. Come to think of it, so was how bright it was. The light was burning down through her eyelids.

"Are you sure that's... Nathalie?" another voice came uncertainly, this one more quiet than the other. It was still urgent, however. She groaned, swatting away a hand as it patted her face. "2 more minutes..." she mumbled, before freezing. What if this was peré? What was she doing?!

She shot up like a rocket, eyes shooting open, wincing as pain spread through her back. Yep, she had definitely slept on the floor. That was pretty normal, but her being used to it didn't make it any less painful.

Groaning and shaking her head to clear away and remnants of sleep, she stood up straighter. "Perè, i-" she froze.

The two people in front of her were definitely not her father. Or even anyone she recognised.

One was a middle-aged looking man with combed back sandy blonde hair that seemed to be greying slightly. He had grey-blue eyes and was dressed in a rather expensive looking set of clothes. Next to him was a much younger boy, looking moreso her age, with unruly golden locks and rather vivid green eyes that almost reminded her of Emilie's.

"...Nathalie?" the younger boy said slowly, phrasing her name like a question. She blinked at him before glaring. "Who are you? Where am i?" she snapped.

"It seems Ladybug's power missed her somehow" the older man frowned. "I'm not sure why, though i suppose we'll have to wait and see if it goes of it's own accord"

She glared daggers at him. "Why are you ignoring me? And what are you talking about?!" her voice raised in pitch and volume as she spoke.

He pinned her with a cold look. "Calm down"

She froze at the familiar words, though she was used to hearing them accompanied by insults. Her entire body tensed up and her jaw clicked shut, fear slowly pooling in her.

He cocked a brow at the strangely obedient response, but didn't question it, choosing instead to tap his chin as he thought. In his murmerings, she heard words like 'miraculous' and 'broken'. She still hadn't an inkling to what he was talking about, but she didn't dare ask.

The younger boy gave her an uncertain smile. "Um. Do you remember me?"

So she _was_ allowed to speak. Or at least to just answer this question.

"Um. No. Sorry?"

His face fell, and she grimaced. Was that a wrong answer? Who the hell was this kid?

"I'm Adrien Agreste. And uh... You take care of me. N-not as like a nanny!" he backtracked. "You didn't raise me. But you order my days and schedule and stuff. But you got hit with an akuma that de-aged you and... and you've probably forgotten all of that, right?"

He was rambling. Her eyes narrowed. "I didn't get a word of what you just said. I've definitely never met you before. And what on earth is an... Akuma?"

"Ok. I think I'll have to explain it bit by bit. You might wanna sit down-" he gestured at a chaise, but she folded her legs and sat on the floor. Blinking, he followed suit and sat crosslegged in front of her. The older man sent him a look of dissaproval and said something under his breath about germs, but he ignored him.

"So, akuma are like these butterfly things, and they can give people powers based on each person..."

\---

"This all sounds so ridiculous" Nathalie griped as she swiped through 'her' phone. Sure enough, two of the pictures looked suspiciously like her, as Adrien had said they would. So this was her when she was older? She was ok with that. She looked alright in these photos, if a little thin.

"Well... Y'know what, suppose i did believe you. About all of this, with the magic butterflies and supervillains and whatever" Nathalie folded her arms. "How long until I'm back to 'normal' again?"

"We don't know" Adrien rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I think something just went wrong with the miraculous ladybug. But I'll see if i can somehow get in contact with m'lad- ladybug. She can use it again and see if that fixes it"

She nodded slowly, clearly disappointed. She liked having exact times. Certainties. Well, chaos was welcome sometimes. But not in a situation like this.

The older man - Gabriel Agreste, she had found - inclined his head in seeming indifference. "In the meantime, you should stay here" he said firmly. She grimaced at the demanding tone, but still said 'yeah, sure'. She still had no guarantee these people wouldn't hurt her. It seemed unlikely, but you really can never be too sure. It was always best to do as people asked.

"I'll place a request on the ladyblog and see if i get a response" Adrien pulled out his phone, before his eyes widened at the time. "Shit, i have Chinese tutoring in 3 minutes!"

"Language." Gabriel reprimanded. "You have time, hurry back to your room. The Gorilla can handle the rest, even without Nathalie"

"...Ok" Adrien sighed, giving her a last sad look before leaving.

Nathalie stayed sitting, shifting, until Gabriel gave her a strange look. "You can stand up. And you can walk around as well, but ask me first so i can ensure that you aren't seen. If you are, it could cause issues"

She nodded, standing up, before realizing suddenly that the clothes she was wearing were astronomically too big. She had been too occupied to notice before, but now that she had, it was pretty uncomfortable.

"Uh... I don't suppose Adrien has spare clothes?" she requested nervously. He paused before nodding. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Stay here, I'll just be a moment" and with that, he left, and she was alone in the room.

Her discomfort grew and she tapped her foot, looking around at all of the expensive tech and displays. Even the godamn floor looked like it cost more than her entire house.

She noted that her hair was in a bun. It was pretty uncomfortable, she was used to having her hair down. With a simple flick of her wrist the elastic band had been snapped and her hair fell down around her shoulders. She also realized that the glasses she was wearing were a lot too big, but as they were still her prescription, she opted to just tape them more firmly onto her head with some cellotape from the nearby worktable. She hoped he didn't mind.

He returned with a black shirt with three coloured stripes and a pair of blue jeans. "Just down the hall is a bathroom. Make sure no one sees you" he instructed. She took the clothes and gave a curt nod before leaving to the bathroom.

The clothes fit surprisingly well, even if clearly not shaped for a girl's body. But it was better than nothing. She scowled as she realized suddenly that the shirt was short sleeved, and crossed her arms in discomfort. 

When she walked back out, he was distracted by something on his computer screen. When he saw her he gave a nod of approval. "It looks fine on you. Now then, i need to get my work done. You can go on 'your' work computer to occupy yourself with if you want, but try to stick to YouTube. Don't go near the emails or documents"

She hummed to indicate she had heard him, sprint-walking over to the laptop on the polished desk surface. She assumed this was where future-her worked. It all looked very fancy, at least from her perspective. The only computers she knew of were much clunkier than this one. She navigated to YouTube to play some cat videos and pulled up some recent news articles, just wanting something to distract herself until Adrien came back with news about whether or not Ladybug could help. Cat videos always made her feel better, she had always wanted a cat; they were her favourite pets. But last time she had been hanging around a cat (Emilie's) and returned home with fur all over her, her father had threatened to beat the fur off her the same way one beats dust out of a rug. She didn't pet animals anymore after that. But at least she still had videos of them.

And yet, despite these videos being her very favourite type, after only 20 minutes she was already back to shuffling where she sat.

"So, uh... How long is his Chinese lesson?" she asked nervously. He didn't even glance up as he replied. "An hour. It isn't that long of a wait. And there's no guarantee that Ladybug will even see the message so soon. She's been known to occasionally look at the site, but hell if anyone knows more than that"

"Oh. Okay" she sighed, trying to read the newsletter she had brought up, but for some reason she was struggling to focus. She scowled as she realized she was dissociating, and dug her nails into her palms until the pain re-focused her.

"Do you know anything about fashion? At this age?" Gabriel suddenly asked. Her head jerked up. "Uh, kind of?" she said hesitantly. "I know the technicalities and i enjoy working with that sort of thing, but I'm not actually 'practically' experienced"

"That's fine. I'm facing a creative block, and you're clearly bored. I was simply offering to let you help me out with the creative process" he gestured at his screen.

Her eyes widened. "Oh. Really?"

"Yes"

"Okay... Uh. Sure. Sounds fun" she managed, walking over to peer at his screen. 

"You know, you're different to what i would have expected" the man commented. "You're a lot more... I can't find the word. Talkative? On-edge?"

She flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry"

"It's fine, I'm not bothered. Now then, any opinions?"

She blinked at the screen and nodded. "Yeah. That one on the left"

"Elaborate"

\---

"She... Didn't change back?" Ladybug repeated, sounding bewildered. Chat Noir nodded. "Yeah. I saw the request on the ladyblog. Do you think you have time to drop by and do another miraculous ladybug?"

"I... Yeah, i can try" she nodded. "Sorry for not checking that site. I don't look at it that often"

"It's fine" he shrugged his shoulders. "When would you able to go over and do it?"

"I have real life stuff for most of today, but I'm free 9pm onward. I can head over then" she smiled. He nodded. "Let's hope she can deal with being that age until then"

She chuckled before checking the time. "Well, i have to go. I assume you do too?"

"Yeah" he nodded. "Lovely to see you, M'lady, even if only for a few minutes"

"Oh, you charmer" she snorted, booping his nose. His face went crimson as she turned and waved. "Bye, Chat!"

"Bye!"

\---

"You've had your arms crossed this entire time" Gabriel commented. "Are you really that on edge around me?"

"You _are_ a stranger" she huffed, glancing away. "Even if you know me when I'm older"

"Fair point" he conceded before something seemed to strike him. He gave her an odd look. "Do you feel... Sick at all? Or like you want to cough?"

She blinked at him. "Uh. No? Should i?"

"No, not at all. But the you of this time has a... A rare illness that often leaves her tired and ill. I simply wanted to check if that had carried through"

"I feel fine" 

"Good" he even seemed to smile slightly at that. It looked strange; he hadn't stopped frowning or looking emotionless the entire time.

Adrien burst through the door.

"Ladybug said she can come over at 9pm! Is that ok?"

"That's fine" Nathalie said at the same time as Gabriel's snapped "Don't just throw open the doors!"

Adrien took a moment to process what both had said before responding with "Good!" and "I'm sorry!"

"Nathalie, you look... You look weird in my clothes!" Adrien laughed, looking her up and down. "Not bad, it's just not something i would have expected to see you wear - even a younger you!"

The bluenette smiled slightly. "Well, i never wear things this expensive at least. Most of my stuff is plain white or grey shirts or my uniform"

"When you go back to normal, i want to see if i can get you to wear some designer then!" Adrien laughed. "You would look awesome!"

Nathalie brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "That sounds nice. Though would future me agree to that?"

He deflated at that. "Maybe not. But it's worth trying!"

"What's even my relation to you? You seem to be very familiar with me, if I'm just an assistant at this company" she couldn't help but ask.

He went red. "Oh, uh... Well, perè is usually too busy to talk to me-" with this he sent his father a scalding look that the older male completely ignored "-Or really interact with me. And you're always there, giving me schedules and getting me some of my food and birthday presents, and..." he shrugged shyly. "I like to think of you as a friend. That version of you. Because you helped raise me kinda"

Nathalie had been stunned into silence by this admission. It wasn't what she had expected at all. "How long have i been working here for?"

"Around 6 years" Gabriel spoke up. "You began when you were 22, and you've been helping out since. One of my biggest helps in running my company"

She smiled slightly. "Good to hear i became worth something"

Adrien's friendly (if self conscious) smile dropped to a look of confusion. "What do you mean by 'became worth something'?"

Nathalie felt her face turn as red as the streak in her hair. "I was just... Thinking out loud. Anyway, uh-" she searched to change the subject. "-Do you have any games or anything? I'm getting bored" 

The most 'games' she had ever had was Tetris. And it was a good game, but hearing her parents insist that they didn't have enough money to 'waste on that garbage' only to spend that same money on alcohol and gambling rung sour.

Gabriel affixed her with a stern look. "He has revision to catch up with, he hasn't any time to play games with anyone. Speaking of which, Adrien, i believe you have a photoshoot in a half hour or so that you should prepare for"

Adrien pouted, and Nathalie resigned herself back to scrolling through YouTube.

Luckily, those videos tided her over until it was time.

Ladybug arrived at exactly 9am, as promised, and Nathalie couldn't help but be fascinated. Her outfit or suit was made of some strange material that was extremely smooth and shiny yet still tough. It made her think of some unholy combination of latex and leather.

"...Are you ready?" the masked hero asked hesitantly.

"More than ever" Nathalie sighed. "I just wanna get this over with. Please do it" she had changed back into her too-big clothes.

"Alright!" Ladybug gave a hesitant smile. "I'm really sorry in advance if this doesn't work. Now then- miraculous ladybug!" and she tossed her yo-yo into the air.

Pink and white light washed over the room, and Nathalie's conscious slipped.

\---

Nathalie Sancoeur, 28, opened her eyes to the sight of a familiar atalier, her boss, her ward, and the hero of Paris all leaning over her.

"Oh thank god it worked!" Ladybug sighed, looking relieved. "Man. I would have felt so bad if i failed"

"Thanks, Ladybug" Adrien smiled gratefully at her. "You're amazing"

The spotted hero went red and began to sputter, but the two teens abruptly shut up at a groan from the recently re-aged woman, now crawling into a sitting position.

"Everything aches" she grimaced. "What happened?"

"You, uh. You got hit by an attack from an akuma that de-aged you by a ton of years. I think you were 12 or 13" Adrien said with a nervous smile. "And Ladybug's first miraculous ladybug didn't work on you the first time. But it did now!"

"Well then" she slumped. "I don't remember a single thing"

Suddenly she realized that her boss was carefully helping her get up, and her cheeks flushed at his hand steadying her. She swatted him away, embarrassed, before suddenly noticing that her glasses seemed... Stuck to her head?

"What on earth?" she grumbled, peeling the cellotape off with some chagrin. Adrien was still smiling, overcome with positive emotions. "I'll go see Ladybug out!" he said cheerily, and neither adult protested as the stammering teens walked out together.

"I'm... Sorry that this happened, sir. It must have been a great inconvenience" Nathalie sighed, reaching in her pocket for a hairband. For some reason her hair was out of it's bun and she couldn't find the elastic band she normally held it up with.

"It's alright. It wasn't your fault anyway, i can only assume the broken miraculous is making it harder for the heal charm to work on you. You'll need to be more careful in future, though" he offered her his hand, and, with a small blush and a flutter in her chest, she accepted his hand to stand up.

"I will, sir. Thank you for being so patient with me. I can only assume i was rather irritating" she chuckled. He smirked but shook his head. "No actually, you were one of the tamest children i have ever had to interact with. At any rate, it's late. Do you want to head home?" he inclined his head at the clock on the wall.

She smiled. "See you tommorow, sir"

"The same to you."


End file.
